Officials at Orlando International Airport won’t immediately kick out the Transportation Security Administration and seek a private security contractor but has put the agency on final notice.
The TSA has a 60-day period to ‘meet the triggers’ to improve performance, or the airport will go ahead with delay to privatize the screening process, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Board chairman Frank Kruppenbacher said.
"I’m taking my gloves off with this: There is a leadership problem at TSA local. I don’t think any of us really desire deep in our hearts to go down this road but we’ve talked and talked, and so this is like, we’re moving in this direction," he told Florida Politics.
He cites a lack of communication and accountability by TSA management.
Both wait times and the overall passenger experience is substandard, OIA said.
If the TSA doesn’t improve performance OIA will move ahead with privatization without formally discussing the issue again.
"The step we would take today is to begin the process; the board will not be formally voting to file the application."
The TSA has about 1,000 officers at the airport which would become the largest in the country so far to privatize security screening.
